You people really have no artistic sense. Althouse, the former art major, should scold you severely.

That being said, he is a decent amateur who obviously derives a lot of pleasure out of his painting. Good for him. It is possible to say, "hey, I am glad he has found a hobby he enjoys" without lauding him as the next Thomas Kincade (and yes I am being facetious).

The more I learn of the man the more I both like him and respect him. When he first came up as a candidate for President I thought why him, he's seems kind of a small, uninteresting man compared to his dad. Then I learned how well he worked as a Texas Governor, and I said OK, maybe he'll do. Then when elected, at first even the press was impressed with the professionalism and competence of his team and he wasn't a scary conservative. OK, that's fine this will work. Then a lot shit hit the fan, and drastic times were on and he made his share of mistakes and good calls. I thought he was too liberal with spending myself, but that was before I learned what real spending is.

The wars, as always, were tough and full of missteps and tragedy. He experienced the most negatively partisan and biased press I've ever seen, and Reagan had it pretty bad.

Through all of it though, I was very impressed with his stability, his conviction, his fairness, his simple goodness, humility and humanity, and much of his greatest work from these qualities went mostly ignored.

I was always surprised, and like many infuriated with his refusal to fight back against the onslaught of unfair press and criticism, but in the end, after reflection, it just shows me that he was a better man than I would be in that position. And he keeps doing that.

I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, and I didn't like him in any way prior to 9/11, though I did completely accept the outcome of the election at the point when the Supreme Court ended the controversy about the outcome.

But ever since 9/11, I have felt bonded to him. I feel protective of him. And here he is naked... with the added intimacy of an unfinished work revealed against his will.

When venturing into the arm waving of art criticism, I think it helps to remember that criticism is not a science, despite many previous theories being disproved and practitioners shamed.

Every time I read art critiques I think of those in the past who completely screwed the pooch about great masterpieces. I'm not saying Bush is good at this. I simply have no idea, other than it looks as pleasing and interesting to me as many I've seen hanging in pay per view locations.

When I was in college a kid got a grant (or flat out paid, I really forget which) for several paintings which the college put in the lobby areas of several dorms. They were canvasses painted flat black that he then gobbed (literally) purple paint onto.

They were considered masterpieces. I thought they sucked and looked a lot like the overalls the college painter wore every day.

Great art? Good art? Passable art? Art is, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder.

Why do you have to be a pro to be a good artist? In a time when "Piss Christ" gets raves, I will take the work of an amateur with an aesthetic that speaks to me over the work of a "pro" pretty much every time.

This thread pretty much distills the difference between roesch/voltaire and Freder Frederson in the Althouse vortex. See if you can spot the difference.

Anyway, Bush's paintings are surprisingly good for an untrained(*) amateur. The work is certainly on par with the average student work you'll see in the average university art program (trust me -- I've been there). The paintings are interesting in their choice of subject matter. The man could take up any hobby and he took up painting. That's interesting too.

(*)Maybe he is taking lessons from someone. No reason why he couldn't be.

You have no idea. Although he's a disaster for the country and the economy, my own business thrives on a slow economy, so I profit well from his foolishness. I still voted against him. He's that bad. And, I bet he can't paint a birdhouse.

Well, I clicked through, though Ann is doing her best to make me feel guilty for having done so. I'm actually rather impressed. Unless GWB has a very good visual memory, I think a camera must have been involved along the way, but still, not bad at all.

I wonder how many people switched Party affiliation after Bush's short speech just after 9/11. It was the beginning of my shift to the Republican party. I too feel very protective of W. I love his paintings and am so grateful he is having this time to himself. I really like W. and am flummoxed at the crummy people who reflexively despise him. He must have taken a class or has a tutor, because he's too good to be self-taught, I should think. Maybe he just has an excellent book. W. is a fairly deep man. His paintings are certainly better than Carter's poems.

Oh, good. Otherwise, I was going to say, I hope that's not Bush in the bathtub, because the crotch is dickless

That's because you're looking at the painting by Pierre Bonnard of his wife in the bath, as opposed to the painting [at the link] by GWB of his own legs in the bath, which doesn't get up to the crotch zone.

I bet he paints himself bathing or showering because that's when people have down time to think about projects. I know that's when I get creative mentally - nothing to distract you. If I were a painter, I can see attempting to memorize the location to paint later as an exercise.

When libs weren't foaming at the mouth that Bush was "shredding the Constitution" and such -- practices Obama continues yet are somehow no longer worthy of liberal or media notice -- another smear was to dismiss Bush as "incurious."

I don't think incurious politicians take up painting after they retire.

Representational painting is painstaking work. Bush's paintings may not look like much but it's hard to reach even this level of skill.

They look like the paintings of a man trying to come to terms with himself and struggling with internal anguish, but maybe I’m just hoping that’s what he’s been doing since riding the country into the ground.

In other words, it can mean about anything you want.

I feel the same way about Gatsby. Throw a bunch of resonate phrases together, and no matter how meaningless, they will make sense to some English teacher. Especially if you write the occasionally sensible sentence of deep meaning.